Good and Evil in Haiti

By Rev. Maggie Harney

The recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and Turkey have given rise, once again, to the question of God’s responsibility for these kinds of tragedies. Theologians tell us that evil can be thought of as three types—natural evil, systemic and personal evil. Earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis are all examples of natural evil. These things happen, and we human beings feel helpless before them. And there are those who, like Pat Robertson, say that God sends these natural disasters to punish sinful people.

Christians profess belief in God, the creator of heaven and earth. Science tells us that Earth came into being 4.5 billion years ago. It seems to me that the recent earthquakes have been 4.5 billion years in the making. When tectonic plates shift, volcanoes erupt, hurricanes blow in from the ocean and meteors fall from the sky, Earth is simply behaving like a planet. Earth also rolls on year after year in its course though the cosmos. We humans have nothing to do with this miracle that supports our lives. It’s beyond my ability to imagine that God has been constantly monitoring every earthquake or orbit around the sun for 4.5 billion years. (I also can’t believe that God is so spiteful that God would send an earthquake to destroy 250,000 men, women and children.)

Perhaps the evil that has brought about such suffering in Haiti is not located in the earthquake. Perhaps we need to look at personal evil and systemic evil. Systemic evil has brought about the crushing poverty that the majority of Haitians live in. Systemic evil was in the slave trade 300 years ago that brought Africans to Haiti. Systemic evil was in the French colonial system that kept Haitians at near starvation and used them like animals. When the slaves revolted and declared their independence from France in 1801, the French, English and Americans placed embargoes on the country to isolate it and that, too, was systemic evil. In 1956, the personal evil of Papa Doc Duvalier and his thugs, the Tonton Macoute, created a system of terror and suffering for ordinary Haitians. At Papa Doc’s death, his 19 year-old-son, Baby Doc, carried forward the greed and lawlessness of his father. Personal evil and systemic evil have plagued Haiti for centuries.

If you want to see the presence of God in Haiti, don’t look at the earthquake or hurricanes. The presence of God is in the hearts of the Haitians who moved rubble with their hands to save those buried beneath their own homes. God is present in the medical first responders and the U.S. soldiers who give out food, water and tents. God is present in the clergy and parishioners who dig mass graves, say prayers and mourn over the bodies of their families and friends. God is present in people world-wide who write checks and provide aid for Haiti.

God is not in the business of monitoring earthquakes and sending them to punish people. God is in the business of redeeming us when disaster strikes. God’s love bubbles up inside our hearts and moves us to compassion and action. If you are looking for God, look into the eyes of those who are loving their neighbors.